A Slight Deviation From the Plan
by chocolatequeen
Summary: After leaving Mickey behind in the parallel universe, the Doctor is anxious to remind Rose that travel with him can be fun and lighthearted, so he takes her to a peaceful planet, hoping to make her happy with pretty sights and good food. A rainstorm forces them to deviate from his plans, but Rose doesn't seem to mind. Set in between Age of Steel and Idiot's Lantern


The Doctor adjusted the navigation controls very carefully, ignoring the way Rose was impatiently swinging her legs from her perch on the jump seat. They'd had a series of… less than stellar adventures recently, and he was keenly aware that he had some making up to do. Making up which would be significantly more difficult if, say, they landed on a planet where they were chased by big purple rhinos.

Again.

"Blimey, Doctor, could you move any slower?" Rose complained. "You've had your hand on that dial for thirty seconds now, and it's barely moved."

"Is this the thanks I get for being careful?" The Doctor sniffed and examined the read-out. Satisfied at last, he threw the dematerialisation lever and ignored Rose's muttered, "Finally!"

"Go on then," Rose coaxed while they were in flight. "Where are you taking us today?"

The Doctor stuck his hands into his pockets and leaned on the console. "Autumnalis."

A frown wrinkled Rose's forehead, and she played with the cuffs on her red jacket while she considered that. "A whole planet named after one season?"

When she bit her lip and looked up at him, the Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat, then start racing. The irregular rhythm had become familiar since he'd met Rose, his hearts' way of reminding him who they belonged to—as if he could forget.

She shook her head, and he forced his mind back to their conversation. "But it can't be autumn there all the time, can it? I mean, the seasons happen because of the Earth's orbit around the sun, so it seems like other planets ought to have the same thing happen."

He beamed at her. "Very good, Rose. But Autumnalis is in a trinary system that orbits around three fairly weak stars. The temperatures stay in the range of ten to twenty degrees celsius all year long."

"Well then, why not name it Ver?" she countered. "That's just as much like spring as it is autumn, and then instead of constantly dreading a winter that never quite shows up, you're constantly hoping for summer."

The Doctor pulled Rose out of the jump seat and into a hug. "I love the way your mind works," he told her. "But! This time, there is a reason." The TARDIS landed with a light thud, and he pointed at the door. "Why don't you take a look?"

Rose arched an eyebrow, then spun away from him and skipped down the ramp. "You coming?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

The Doctor swung his overcoat around his shoulders and stuck his arms in the sleeves. "Ready whenever you are, Rose Tyler," he said as he joined her.

"Right, then let's see why they named this planet…"

Rose's sentence trailed off when she pushed the door open and caught sight of the planet. The Doctor smiled softly when her eyes widened in one of his favourite Rose Tyler expressions—absolute wonder.

He looked over her shoulder and patted himself on the back for an excellent landing. They were twenty feet from the shore of a mountain lake whose glassy surface reflected the surrounding peaks and golden- and rust-coloured native trees.

"You were saying, Rose?" the Doctor asked smugly. He nudged her out of the TARDIS and shut the doors before taking her hand. Rose automatically laced her fingers through his, and he tried not to think about how right that felt, or wonder if they'd fit together as perfectly in other ways.

"Does it look like this all year long?" she asked as they started walking around the lake.

The Doctor reached up and caught a few brightly-coloured leaves, then offered them to Rose. "Yep! Trees on Autumnalis don't produce chlorophyll. The golds come from the same xanthophyll that trees on Earth have, but the reds are caused by rufolio, a pigment unique to this planet."

Leaves crunched beneath their feet as they walked. Rose took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of wood smoke. "I love travelling with you."

"Yeah?"

There was a worried note in the Doctor's voice, and Rose glanced up at him. He was watching her, a little furrow in his brow, like he thought she was going to suddenly change her mind or something.

"Well, yeah," Rose said. "I've told you that before. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." The Doctor tugged on his ear with his free hand. "Only… I thought maybe…"

Rose rubbed her thumb over his when he stumbled over his words. "Thought what, Doctor?"

"Welllll…" He pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth then finally looked down at her, an apologetic smile on his face. "I know the last few trips haven't exactly gone to plan. I mean, the parallel universe…"

A pang went through Rose. Leaving Mickey behind had shown her how much she'd taken for granted that he would always be there for her. The way he'd looked at her when he'd argued that she didn't need him, because she had the Doctor now…

She swallowed and squeezed the Doctor's hand. "Not your fault," she told him quietly. "Mickey did what he needed to do to be happy, that's all."

"Yeah, of course." The Doctor nodded decisively. "But still. I thought we deserved a relaxing trip. Just something where we could enjoy how incredible the universe is, with no running."

A fat raindrop struck his coat, darkening the brown wool. Rose looked up at the sky and frowned. The clouds that had looked like fluffy cotton earlier were now dark and threatening.

"Should we go back to the TARDIS?" she asked.

"Nah," the Doctor said. "It's barely sprinkling yet. We should be able to make it to the town before the sky really opens up."

Still, she noticed he picked up the pace.

The few raindrops here and there had become a light shower by the time they turned off the lake path towards—Rose assumed—the town. "Are you sure we shouldn't go back to the TARDIS?"

She felt the Doctor stiffen beside her, and she cast him another sidelong glance. His shoulders were hunched slightly, and as she watched, he swallowed hard, making his Adam's apple bob. "Do you want to go back?"

 _This trip is really important to him_.

Rose let go of his hand to hook her arm through his. "Not if you don't," she told him honestly. "It's just a bit of rain, yeah? I'm from London; I think I can handle rain."

He straightened and smiled down at her. "Quite right, Rose Tyler. Besides, we've definitely been in worse," he said, even as the rain grew steadily heavier. "Do you remember the blizzard on Malbon?"

Rose shivered. "I couldn't get warm for days after that."

The Doctor bumped her with his hip. "I remember. You wore four of my jumpers, one on top of another."

"Not my fault your jumpers are all warmer than anything I own." _Plus, they smelled like you._ She coughed and tugged on his sleeve. "I guess this time I'd have to borrow your coat."

"Oh, but you won't need it," he insisted. "It's still not raining that hard."

An ominous rumble of thunder accompanied those words, and Rose shot the Doctor an exasperated look. "You do know that every time you say the weather isn't that bad, it gets worse, yeah?"

She'd barely pointed that out when the shower turned into a downpour. Rose blinked into the rain, then grinned at the Doctor. "Come on then!" she shouted over the sound of raindrops hitting the leaves above them. "Run!"

The Doctor stumbled for a few steps before he got his running feet under him. It was _not_ supposed to rain today. There certainly wasn't supposed to be a deluge of Noahic proportions. This was supposed to be a peaceful autumn outing with a bit of alien culture and some good food, to remind Rose that travelling with him wasn't all about losing people.

Her laughter carried the harmony to the raindrops' pulsing base line, and listening to the sound, he gave up on his impending pout. Raindrops ran down his neck, but as long as Rose was happy, he didn't care.

The narrow path widened as they ran, and a moment later, they skidded to a halt in front of a cosy house nestled in a small clearing. "Oh, brilliant!" the Doctor enthused. "Shelter!"

"I bet no one is home," Rose said, grinning at him with her tongue peeking out between her teeth. "S'just the kind of day it's been."

"Oh, come on," the Doctor protested as he knocked on the door. "It's been a good day!"

"Yeah, but the kind of good day where nothing's gone according to plan," Rose pointed out when no one answered the door.

The Doctor glanced back at the storm from the shelter of the eaves, then at the house. "Do you think they'd mind if…" He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

But Rose was one step ahead of him. She'd already tried the handle and found the door unlocked. "Looks abandoned," she said as she stepped inside. "But it's dry, and there's wood beside the fireplace."

The Doctor took his coat off and ran his hand through his hair, shivering when that sent more water down his neck. "Let's get a fire going."

Rose poked around the cottage while the Doctor lit a fire. The layer of dust on all the tables and countertops confirmed her initial impression that it had been empty for a while, whether because the previous owners had moved, or because they were on holiday.

A closed door led to a bedroom dominated by a four poster bed, piled high with quilts and pillows. _On holiday then,_ she decided. She grabbed the top quilt and as many pillows as she could carry and dragged them back to the main room.

The Doctor was nowhere in sight, but Rose heard him whistling from what she assumed was the kitchen, just around the corner. She dropped her armload on the floor and set about making a soft nest out of the bedding.

"Oh, very nice!"

She turned around and felt her breath catch in her throat when she caught sight of him. He'd taken off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his Oxford, leaving his forearms bare. Even though she saw him in pjs almost every night when they sat together in the library, there was something about the way he looked, so dressed down but still in his suit…

The Doctor cocked his head, and Rose realised she'd been staring at him. She felt her face turn red and pointed at the pile of pillows. "I thought it would be more comfortable than the floor."

"Absolutely. And I've got something too," he told her, holding up the steaming mugs in his hands.

Rose jumped to her feet and took one, sighing happily when she tasted the rich hot chocolate. "How'd you manage this?"

The Doctor grinned as he settled down on the floor. "I keep a bit of everything in my coat pockets." He winked at her. "Bigger on the inside, you know."

Rose's damp shirt clung to her skin, and she shivered despite the fire. "I don't suppose you've got dry clothes in there?"

She expected him to roll his eyes or laugh at her, but to her surprise, he reached for the overcoat and rummaged through the pockets. "Now that you mention it, I might have put something in here after the last time we got stranded away from the TARDIS overnight."

Rose watched as he pulled item after item out of his pockets. He seemed particularly happy when he found a bag of marshmallows, though she couldn't understand why, since they didn't have any sticks to hold over the fire.

Finally, though, he crowed triumphantly and waved a pair of flannel pyjamas at her. "Ask and you shall receive, Rose Tyler!"

She snatched up the dry clothes and darted into the bedroom, eager to get out of her wet top and jeans. She only considered her damp undergarments for a moment before shedding them, too.

"Thanks for this," she told the Doctor when she rejoined him by the fire. "I know the heat would have dried me out eventually, but it'll be a lot easier to get warm, now that I'm not wearing wet clothes."

He nodded absently, but didn't look up from what he was doing. Rose tilted her head and watched him as he unfolded a long, collapsible stick and pulled a marshmallow out of the bag. "Got one of those sticks for me, Doctor?" she asked when she realised what he was planning. He handed her one, and she quickly unfolded it and joined him at the fire, holding a marshmallow near the heat but away from the flames.

"Oh, that's not how you roast marshmallows," he argued.

Rose watched as his confection caught fire. "Yeah, not sure I'm going to take cooking advice from someone whose treat just went up in flames."

The Doctor pulled the outer charred shell off the marshmallow and popped it into his mouth. "Burnt sugar! It's the best taste in the world."

Rose carefully rotated her own marshmallow, watching as it turned brown on all sides. "Yeah, but it doesn't get all melty and gooey on the inside if you just char the outside," she pointed out.

He rolled his eyes and stuck his marshmallow back into the flame. "Just keep cooking and eating the outside," he explained.

"Or…" Finally satisfied with her results, Rose pulled her marshmallow off the stick, leaving a long string of melted sugar trailing after it. She popped it into her mouth and hummed happily as the flavour of caramelised sugar dissolved on her tongue.

The Doctor felt his mouth gape slightly as he watched Rose eat her sweet. "You've… you've got a bit just here," he said, pointing to the corner of her mouth. Her tongue darted out to catch the sugar, and he swallowed hard. This… this was not _at all_ how the day was supposed to go.

Rose frowned at him. "What do you mean, it's not how the day was supposed to go?" she asked.

He paled when he realised he'd actually said that out loud. "Well. Getting caught in a rainstorm, too far from the TARDIS to run home…" He rubbed at his neck. "That wasn't my plan."

Her eyes narrowed. "You do this thing where you rub the back of your neck when you don't want to tell me something," she informed him. "You might want to stop doing that, if you don't want me to know when you're lying."

The tips of the Doctor's ears grew hot. "I… that's… I don't know what you're talking about!" he sputtered.

Rose rolled her eyes, and he knew he hadn't convinced her. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be interested in pushing the point.

"So!" he said, eager to change the subject. "It just occurred to me that you know the Latin names for the seasons. When did you learn that?"

"I told you." She nudged him in the ribs. "I was going to sit my A-levels in French, remember? And parts of French are based on Latin, so I learned a few things here and there when I was studying where words came from."

The Doctor's slow smile made her stomach flip. He was looking at her the way he looked at alien planets sometimes, like he'd never seen anything so wonderful in his entire life. That look made her want to grab him and snog him senseless, and she clenched her hands into fists to avoid the temptation.

"I'm famished." She jumped to her feet and jogged into the kitchen. "Do you think they'd mind if we raided the larder?"

"We'll leave a note and some local currency to thank them for their hospitality," the Doctor replied, and she could tell he was coming in to join her.

"There's a wheel of cheese and some dry pasta," she told him. "I could make macaroni and cheese."

"Sounds good."

Rose tried not to look at him, and when she gave in, she felt a bit more of her restraint crumble. He was leaning in the doorway, tie off, looking rumpled and relaxed and so sexy she could hardly stand it.

He grinned at her, and Rose almost dropped the pan she held in her hand. "Can you light the stove?" she asked, pointing to the wood stove against the wall.

The Doctor pushed off from the doorframe and pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, twirling it as he winked at Rose. "At your service, Dame Rose."

Rose's laugh was higher pitched than usual, but the Doctor's teasing still managed to ease some of the one-sided sexual tension. _Remember, Rose. He's your best mate, and he's not interested in you like that. Even if he could flirt for England, if that was a competitive sport._

Dinner was relaxed and teasing, though Rose kept glancing out the window. The rain had never let up. "I think we're gonna have to stay here for the night," she told the Doctor after they settled back in front of the fireplace. "The sun's about to set, and there's no way I'm walking through this, in the dark, back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor looked out the window and deflated slightly. "I'm sorry, Rose." He stared at the fire, his lip jutting out. "This was definitely not what I had in mind when we came here. A little shopping, some alien food… I just wanted to spend a fun day with you."

"Hey, what makes you think I haven't had fun?" Rose countered.

He shrugged, but didn't turn back around. Rose rolled her eyes and shifted so she was close enough to wrap an arm around his waist. "I mean it, Doctor," she told him. "We're having a bit of an adventure, that's all. And it's been a pretty nice day, hasn't it? Hot chocolate and marshmallows in front of a fire?"

The Doctor sighed and draped an arm over her shoulders, steadfastly ignoring the way she was now cuddled against his side. "Do you know," he said, trying to keep his voice conversational, "of all the people I've travelled with throughout the years, I can't think of one who adapted more naturally to my unpredictable life. It's like you were born to travel on the TARDIS, Rose."

"I love it," she told him again. "And I know you're afraid that I'm gonna decide that the cost is too much, or something." She placed her free hand on his chest in between his hearts. "That's not going to happen, Doctor," she said firmly. "The only way you're ever getting rid of me is if you drop me off, and you promised you'd never do that to me."

The Doctor's hearts were in his throat. "I couldn't."

"And I'm never going to leave you."

Timelines spun around the Doctor as he found himself considering something he'd never believed possible. "Rose…" He pulled back and nudged at Rose's chin so he could see her eyes. "Oh, you really mean that, don't you?" he breathed. All this time, as he'd fallen in love with her, he'd thought his feelings were one-sided, but looking at her now, he finally recognised the devotion that had been there all along.

She took his free hand and held it tight. "I told you; you're stuck with me, Doctor."

He chuckled at her almost defiant tone and cheeky little smile. "I don't think I am," he disagreed.

Rose stiffened and pulled away just enough to scowl up at him. "I told you I'm not gonna leave," she stated fiercely.

"Oh, I know. I don't understand it, but I finally believe you." The Doctor put a finger over her mouth before she could argue. "But stuck implies that I'd rather be somewhere else, and honestly, Rose Tyler, there's nowhere I'd rather be than here with you."

Rose's eyes widened. "Yeah?"

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Yeah."

"Doctor…" Rose closed her eyes and swallowed, then pulled her hand away from his.

The Doctor's hearts plummeted. He'd been wrong. He'd misread her, she hadn't wanted this, her concern had only been that of a friend…

"I need to know," she said, her voice very quiet. "If… is this…" She opened her eyes again and looked at him. "You're making me think you want things, Doctor, so if that's not what you're trying to tell me, then you need to stop."

He blinked several times, trying to process those words, and then the meaning finally clicked into place. It wasn't that she didn't want, it was that she didn't know he did.

The Doctor reached out and brushed a strand of hair back over her ear. "I can't think of anything I've wanted this much in all my lives," he admitted.

Rose turned her head slightly into his caress, and the Doctor leaned down close enough to brush his nose against hers. "Can I?" he whispered, his eyes darting to her lips.

He was close enough to feel the breath of her response. "Yeah."

Rose closed her eyes when the Doctor's hand slid through her hair and waited breathlessly for his lips to touch hers. Only hours ago, she'd been telling herself this would never happen, and the speed with which things had changed made her a bit dizzy.

Or maybe that was the feeling of his lips pressed against hers, cooler than a human's and soft to the touch. She sighed against him, and he adjusted the kiss slightly so he had her bottom lip between his.

The kiss was sweet, but there was too much distance between them. The Doctor seemed to agree, because the hand that had been around her shoulders before slid down to the middle of her back and pressed gently, encouraging her to come closer.

Rose's lips slid off of his when she tried to get closer to him, and she giggled softly. "Gimme a mo'," she said, then quickly climbed into his lap, loving the way his breathing stuttered.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. "Rose," he said seriously, "would you pinch me?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm fairly certain at this point that I must be dreaming."

Rose ran a hand through the Doctor's hair and felt her own breathing speed up when his mouth dropped open in obvious pleasure. "Are you saying you dream about kissing me, Doctor?" she teased.

His eyes fluttered open. "All the time."

The sincerity in his eyes disarmed all her clever quips. "Well then," she said shakily. "I think we're doing a bit too much talking and not enough snogging."

The feeling of Rose in his arms was driving the Doctor spare. "Too right," he growled, and this time when he kissed her, he nipped at her lip, begging her silently to open her mouth for him.

Rose's lips parted, and the Doctor slipped his tongue into her mouth. The hand in his hair clenched, and he groaned as he flicked his tongue against hers.

He could taste her happiness in her pheromones and feel how much she wanted him in the way she shivered in his arms. The Doctor's vast Time Lord brain short-circuited at the notion that it was _his_ touch making her react like this, his kiss she was sighing into.

Humans needed air, so the Doctor reluctantly pulled his mouth away from Rose's and trailed his lips along her jawline. He flicked his tongue against her skin, grinning when he felt her nails dig into his shoulders in reaction.

"Don't hold back, love," he murmured into her skin. "Tell me what you like, what feels good."

"Everything feels good, Doctor." Rose sighed his name when he sucked lightly at the hollow of her throat, so he did it again, this time scraping his teeth against the sensitive skin.

"You taste so bloody good, Rose."

He pulled back far enough to look down at her. The sun had set completely, leaving the fire the only light in the room. The golden light created a halo around her, and the Doctor had to swallow twice to get past the lump in his throat at the memories that called back.

Seeming to understand his sudden emotion, Rose ran her hand down his back in a gesture of comfort. The Doctor took a deep breath, and the scent of Rose hanging in the air drove all thoughts of Bad Wolf from his mind.

 _Closer,_ he thought. _Need to get closer._ Cradling the back of her head, he leveraged his weight reposition them both, with Rose resting underneath him in the cocoon of blankets and pillows she'd created earlier.

"Is this all right?" he asked, his hand inching up under her pyjama top.

"Yes!" she gasped. "Been waiting forever, Doctor. Don't make me wait any longer."

"I won't," he promised. "No more waiting for either of us."

oOoOoOoOo

Sunlight streaming in through the windows woke Rose up, and she blinked against it as she tried to remember where she was. Definitely not her own bed. Not any bed, actually. And she was naked.

"She finally awakes!"

As Rose's head swivelled towards the Doctor's voice, the entirety of the last twenty-four hours returned to her. Autumnalis. Rain. Cottage. Making love with the Doctor in front of the fireplace.

He was dressed again, and for a few seconds, the disparity in clothing made her feel awkward. Then he tugged on his ear, and she realised he was just as nervous of the morning after as she was.

Rose took a deep breath and smiled at him, then tossed the quilt back and stood up. The Doctor's mouth gaped and he swallowed hard as his eyes travelled up and down her body before finally looking into hers.

She let her lips curve into what she hoped was a seductive smile as she crossed the room. "I am awake, yeah," she purred, and the Doctor's eyes dilated. "And I have to wonder why you went to the effort of getting dressed." She reached for his tie and undid it slowly, watching his chest heave as she did. "Though I guess it means I can unwrap you now, like a present."

Rose leaned forward and licked his neck, smiling victoriously when he whimpered her name. "Yes, Doctor?"

"I had…" He cleared his throat. "There were plans, remember? Alien food, et cetera?"

Rose took his hands and led him back to the fireplace. "Oh, Doctor," she told him. "Have you forgotten how much fun it was to deviate from the plan?"


End file.
